Sankar Panigrahi

RTI Activist

Odisha

HRDA has issued an urgent appeal to the National Human Rights Commission of India on 13 May regarding the phone threats, including threat to murder Mr. Sankar Panigrahi and rape his wife from an unknown mobile number. Mr. Panigrahi is the secretary of a local NGO ‘Satarka’, which works at the local level on fundamental rights regarding education, health, RTI, etc. Under the organisation’s banner, Mr. Panigrahi initiated the social audit of MGNREGA, school mid-day meals and several other local initiatives.

Mr. Panigrahi had posted on Facebook on May 9, 2017: ‘Go back Naryan Naik’. On May 10, 2017, at about 8.02 PM, he received a call from a mobile number +91-7682955014. The caller abused him in filthy language and threatened to kill him in an encounter and rape his wife. Mr. Panigrahi recorded this conversation which is attached with this soft petition for your kind perusal.

It will be pertinent to mention here that, Mr. Panigrahi had filed one writ petition in Odisha High Court (number W.P.C.(PIL) No 12071 Dt.10/06/2013). He was seeking intervention on the police assault on the people protesting against the Lower Suktel Project at Pardhiapali. Mr Naik was SDPO in the town police station then and a party in this writ petition. Subsequently, he was transferred from the town police station after the hearing started. Now, he has been again transferred to the Balangir Sadar Police Station. Panigrahi fears that after his social media post, Mr Naik might have allegedly instigated someone to threaten him.